Fiber optic illumination systems have now become a useful tool when employed in conjunction with dental instruments, such as mirrors, drills, or just as a source of illumination for working areas. Such illumination systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,539,828; 3,032,879; 3,397,457 and 3,638,013.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,457 discloses a dental drill which employs a fiber optic bundle which is attached to the turbine end of the drill, but does not actually protrude or extend through the turbine housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,093, discloses a dental apparatus utilizing fiber optics, one portion of said apparatus being a dental drill handpiece. The fiber optics bundle employed with the dental drill handpiece, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,457, does not protrude through the turbine, housing but exits the handpiece in an area before the turbine housing.
Although a fiber optics system is employed in the aforedescribed dental apparatus to achieve increased illumination in the work area, maximum illumination is not achieved because the light emitting face of the fiber optics bundle does not protrude through the turbine housing portion of the drill. Instead, such light emitting face is disposed outside of the turbine housing and thus does not directly illuminate the work area. Furthermore, a portion of the fiber optics bundle employed in the above patents is attached to an external portion of the handpiece and thus is subject to being accidentally pulled away from the handpiece and severed from the remainder of the bundle.